Giving a tough competition to your tea tree sheet masks and glossy red nail paints, podcasts now harness the power to be your feel-good confidant. From learning how to accept loss, comprehending fleeting emotions to navigating anxious thoughts, queue up these podcasts centred around mental health to make it all a tad bit better.
1. The Struggle Bus
Do you have a lot of bottled-up feelings and opinions? The Struggle Bus is for you. Hosted by two best friends Katharine Heller and Sally Tamarkin, this biweekly podcast will feel like a support system that listens and understands. Simply put—it is an advice show about mental health, self-care, and just getting through the damn day.
Where to tune in: Spotify, Apple Podcasts
2. Griefcast
The current situation can conjure up images of death and people suffering. And if you’ve been feeling helpless and stuck, here’s something to help relieve you. Griefcast examines the human experience of death and grief but from a lighter yet empathetic perspective. Hosted by Cariad Lloyd (a comedian), the podcast strikes just the right balance between humour and loss.
Where to tune in: Spotify, Apple Podcasts
3. Not Another Anxiety Show
Bringing hard but necessary conversations to the table, mental health coach Kelli Walker disperses her own personal experiences with anxiety, panic, and OCD in this podcast. This podcast will be your guaranteed BFF to help you understand your emotions. The host talks to her guests about what anxiety is, why it happens, how to deal with it and most importantly, shares some life-changing self care practices and tips to bust anxious thoughts.
Where to tune in: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher
4. Terrible, Thanks For Asking
Your instant answer to a ‘How are you?’ may be ‘Good, thank you,’ but this podcast digs deeper. Host Nora McInerny is on the hunt for real answers as she asks people about how they are really doing. Their responses are an amalgamation of sad, comical elements and honestly, hiding right in the podcasts’ title.
Where to tune in: Spotify, Apple Podcasts
5. Dear Sugars
Whether you’re struggling to find a purpose in life, dealing with body image issues, can’t get over a past lover or are tired of not being understood, find solace in Dear Sugars. Duo hosts Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond team up together to offer their radically empathetic advice, which no one would ever tell you right in your face. Trust this podcast for any and every issue bothering you.
Where to tune in: Spotify, Apple Podcasts
6. Mad World
Bryony Gordon’s podcast Mad World features intimate conversations about getting unwell and eventually getting better. From nurses working on the frontline to household names like Prince Harry—who talks about his mental health problems following his mother’s death as a young child—the motto of this podcast is straight-up simple: Mental health deserves to be discussed in the open, irrespective of titles and status.
Where to tune in: Spotify, Apple Podcasts
7. Happier
With social media and people around dictating you to be happy, the concept can often seem toxic. Understand that it’s a slow process, and it’s okay to take your time to inculcate positivity in your mind, especially in the pandemic. Take help from Happier, hosted by Gretchen Rubin, as she presents you with thoughtful ideas and hacks for making your life happier, healthier, productive and more creative.
Where to tune in: Spotify, Apple Podcasts
Which podcast are you tuning into?
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